Introduction to the Work of Pierre Legendre

This book provides the first comprehensive introduction to the erudite, eccentric and expansive work of Pierre Legendre (1930-2023), legal philologist and historian, Professor of Law at the University of Paris I and Director of Studies at L’École Pratique des Hautes Études.

Author and editor of some 30 books and 4 films, his oeuvre defies definition or circumscription. Having devoted his early career to the medieval glossators of Roman and Canon law before encountering Freud and the incendiary lectures of Jacques Lacan, he develops a psychoanalytic theory of law as the dogmatic structure, symbolic mainstay and affective straightjacket of Western civilization. Focusing on the mythological foundations of law and governance, on the visual transmission of law and the emotional capture of the subject, Legendre delivers a profound critique of the doctrines of managerial efficiency, communication, and administrative jargon that dominate the institutions of government. In this volume, 10 international scholars address themselves to the many novel dimensions of Legendre’s work.

This book will be of interest to scholars and students of legal theory, jurisprudence, socio-legal studies, legal history, politics and social science.